Gnarled Forest
Gnarled Forest is the fifth world in LEGO Universe, based on the pirates theme. Players are first directed to go to Gnarled Forest by Nexus Jay after choosing their Faction. After blasting off from the Gnarled Forest Launchpad in Nimbus Station, players make a landing on an elevated landing pad, with the treetops surrounding them. Down the launchpad's ramp they meet Hugo First, who informs them that the pirates "really made a mess of things here" and that they could use some help. Continuing on, players come to The Ravine, where, due to a broken bridge, they must build bouncers on top of stone spires to cross the ravine without falling into the rapids far below. Once at the other end of the broken bridge, they can either visit the nearby Tortoise Terrace and tame a Tortoise pet, or smash the broken Pirate Archway and continue on into a cave. There, they find Toby Squidbarrel, who tells them that Maelstrom infected treasure transformed most of his crewmates into Stromling Pirates and Stromling Admirals. He then asks players to smash ten Stromling Pirates at the nearby Maelstrom Trench, an infected clearing with a rock mutated into a giant skull, glowing with Maelstrom. After doing so, Toby directs players to Renee Tombcrusher, a Venture League explorer assisting in fighting the cursed pirate crew. She asks players to Quick Build a Siren Stunner for her, a robotic Mermaid device which entrances any nearby Stromlings, rendering them unable to fight. She then sends players deeper into the forest to find Arrrthur Arrrbuckle, a pirate near the Elephant Escarpment in need of help building a Siren Stunner. Arrrthur explains that the Siren Stunner is missing a piece, the head, which can be found in a nearby crate. After building complete Siren Stunner, Arrrthur remarks hearing gunshots further into the forest, at Brig Rock, and sends players to investigate. On the way, they meet Merciless Ned, who was told to shoot and detonate some of the explosive, infected treasure chests, but is unable to do so as he can't find his gun. In return, Ned offers players a bag of peanuts, which can be used to tame the nearby Elephant pets. Arriving at Brig Rock, players find the ninja-holding jail overrun with Stromling Pirates and Stromling Admirals. Speaking to Bert Scurvyburp, players find that a "mad gunman" has pinned the pirates down. Climbing what remains of some stairs to a higher level of the brig, players find that the "mad gunman" is Swabbie the Monkey, who has somehow found a gun, likely the one Merciless Ned lost. Swabbie asks players for five bananas, which can be found by attacking nearby banana trees. In return for the bananas, he hands over the gun. Just around a rock from Swabbie and on a wooden platform built into the cliff face is Ralphie Brig-Eyes, the pirate jailkeeper, who is unable to feed the captive ninja prisoners due to being gunned down by Swabbie. He then asks players to feed bananas to the four ninjas - Hashi, Zashi, Mashi, and Steve - and rewards the player with an Imagination point for their work. Continuing past Brig Rock, players reach the Pirate Camp, and find the leader of the pirate crew, Captain Jack Knife, as well as his ship, the Black Seas Barracuda, oddly sitting in a tree on the beach. Jack Knife congratulates players on their success, and challenges them to get 25,000 points or more in Cannon Cove Shooting Gallery. However, in order to enter the shooting gallery, players must gather ten cannonballs for Black Hearted Kevin, who mans the cannon. In order to get the cannonballs, players must use the pistol gained from Swabbie to shoot caught sharks hanging on rope from the rocks overhead the camp, with the cannonballs - and several bones - falling from their stomachs. Also at the Pirate Camp, players find the complete story of Gnarled Forest on a Nexus Force Plaque: Captain Jack Knife and his crew of pirates somehow found a collection of Maelstrom crystals, and, mistaking them for valuable gems, loaded them onto the Black Seas Barracuda. The Kraken sensed the Maelstrom inside the ship, and flung the entire ship out of the water, landing in a tree. The pirates set up a camp around the tree, and took the "treasure" inland. However, they became corrupted by the Maelstrom in the treasure, and the now zombie pirates packed the treasure chests with explosives as traps. The Maelstrom also began seeping into the ground itself, and formed the Maelstrom Trench. The Venture League arrived to assist the pirates, but only gave them a launchpad to Nimbus Station. After getting the required score in Cannon Cove Shooting Gallery, Jack Knife gives players a pirate hook, which can be used to build Crow's Nests which reach special pirates-only areas. Players then use their new hook to reach Crocodile Corner, through the Brig Rock Tunnel or another Crows Nest near the Elephant Escarpment. Here, players can tame a Crocodile pet, and race at Keelhaul Canyon Raceway under the instruction of Swifty McGurk. Locations The Ravine A large ravine, most notable for the massive tiki head carved into the cliff side and large stone spires that players must use to cross the rapids below. Tortoise Terrace A small area on the side of the Ravine, featuring a small pond, a waterfall, and a large rock carved in the shape of a tortoise. Maelstrom Trench A heavily Maelstrom infected area, with a tiki carving corrupted by the Maelstrom and transformed into a stone skull. Elephant Escarpment A peaceful pond area between a ledge over the forest and a giant tree stump. Brig Rock A pirate jail holding several ninja prisoners, and overrun by Stromlings emerging from cracks in the rock wall. Crocodile Corner A lighter area with a pond, crocodile pets, and most noticeably, the entrance to Keelhaul Canyon Raceway. Pirate Camp A pirate base set up around the Black Seas Barracuda, which is stuck in a tree by the beach. Properties *Chantey Shanty *Mountain View (unreleased) *Gnarled Forest Large Property (unreleased) Beta Information Gnarled Forest and Forbidden Valley were initially designed as a single pocket of Wonderland, with a pirates vs ninja theme.Imagining LEGO Universe: Map Quest It was soon split into two pockets, with the Gnarled Forest Ninja pocket becoming Forbidden Valley. Gnarled Forest was the first area of Wonderland to be fleshed out as a vertical slice, and initially consisted of a small jungle and pathways through it. Some elements of the final world existed, such as the Ravine, pirate archway, and Pirate Camp, but the world was largely different from the final design. Enemies included Hyper Darklings and Maelstrom Ninja. Being intended as just one of several areas in Wonderland (which was initially designed as a single zone), it was fairly small and only took up a small portion of the zone's terrain. This version evolved over time; the shooting gallery had been located in a bay to the east of the Pirate Camp that connected to the river crossed at the beginning of the pocket, but at some point was relocated to the pirate ship in the camp. The path to the bay was removed, and a new beach was added to the previously landlocked pirate camp for the shooting gallery to take place in. The northern side was seemingly blocked off or removed, and the west side expanded with a new path. Video of a playtesting session in Germany also shows Jack Knife at a different part of the Pirate Camp than he appears in a demo at a 2008 LUP event. Soon, the idea of Wonderland being a single zone was dropped, and future versions of Gnarled Forest were larger in scale. According to concept artist Nate Storm, there were about 3-4 major revisions of Gnarled Forest in total.http://natestorm.blogspot.com/2012/01/lu-misc-conceptual-work.html Concept art and screenshots show a map with the visual style of the final level, but a different layout. Not much is known about this map, but it is known that it had more elements of the finalized world, such as the Maelstrom Trench. When the final layout of Gnarled Forest was being designed, a tiki village area was considered, which would have been accessible from the path near the entrance to Brig Rock. In the final game, this little stub of path simply holds a Stromling Ape. Concept art of a "pig instance gate" exists, likely for this area, as well as rough placeholder models for the forestry around the village, some huts, etc. Concept artist Richard Tran didn't recall much about the area, but suspected it was axed because it was thought to be culturally insensitive, as he recalled some chatter about it. There are three early properties for Gnarled Forest: Tiki Island, Lagoon, and Pirate's Cove. Lagoon and Pirate's Cove were available to play for a short time in alpha testing by using an invisible rocket launchpad where the Chantey Shanty launchpad currently is, while Tiki Island was shown in a demo at CES 2010. Gallery Giant gnarled forest banner.jpg|Concept art 5323116946 9ffc424733 z.jpg|Concept art Gnarled-forest-pirate-camp layout-.jpg|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Pirate camp concept art.PNG|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Gnarled forest pirate camp2mono.jpg|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Pirate camp concept art.jpg|Concept art by Jim Stigall Cptn. Jack Knife.png|Concept art seen on Jack Knife's My LEGO Network page Pic1093EABB-2A46-4CCD-BFCB-36107ACEA2C1.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang PicD18E1142-F98D-4290-87CD-8D6A9107D32F.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang PicBBE119ED-F6FD-41DC-A32B-33060B57F3D6.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang Pic47817AAF-BF7F-4238-A2CC-B656ED6EE120.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang Davekang legouniverse18.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang E29392cf.jpg|Concept art of a treasure chest in a tree Davekang legouniverse35.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang of various plants, some of them likely for Gnarled Forest 672d9725.jpg|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Squidboard1.jpg|Concept art Squidboard2.jpg|Concept art Rebuildbridge_05.jpg|Concept art Img 1217.jpg|Concept art Gnarledforest skybox 01 copy.jpg|Temporary sky texture, dated March 5, 2008 Gnarled forest pirate contraption01.jpg|Paintover by Jerry Meyer gfpiratemission5.PNG|An early mission asking players to smash a black ninja gfpiratemission6.PNG|An early mission asking players to smash a red ninja gfpiratemission8.PNG|An early mission asking players to rebuild a Ninja Detector gfpiratemission11.PNG|An early mission asking players to smash a red crate Pirategateproductionpainting.jpg|Concept art by Richard Tran Photoshop 2018-04-03 14-58-29.png|Paintover by Richard Tran No words map copy.jpg|Map of Wonderland, showing the location of Gnarled Forest Gnarled Forest.png|A map of the early Gnarled Forest Reworked Gnarled Forest.png|A map of a later iteration of the same design GF.png|A player at the entrance of the early Gnarled Forest GF achievement.jpg|A player discovering a Flag in the early Gnarled Forest Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h00m11s117.png|An early version of the Ravine Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h08m18s98.png|An early version of the area directly following the Ravine Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h09m07s113.png|An early version of the Pirate Camp Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h06m47s63.png|Maelstrom Ninja in the early Pirate Camp Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h29m24s34.png|A pirate guarding a cell holding a captive red ninja Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h02m27s146.png|A red Maelstrom Ninja Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h09m03s112.png|A red Maelstrom Ninja being attacked Vlcsnap-2012-01-19-11h08m38s106.png|The Black Seas Barracuda at the early Pirate Camp Env won nim gf-card.png|The early Pirate Camp Env won gnar watchtowers.png|Gnarled Forest watchtowers Tumblr ma53skZ1Bm1rgpwjuo8 r1 1280.jpg|Early banners featuring Gnarled Forest Lego-universe-pirates.jpg|Captain Jack Knife at the helm of his ship Gnarled Forest demo at 2008 LUP Event|A demo of Gnarled Forest shown at the 2008 LUP event UltraHypnoToad - Very first LEGO Universe Trailer! LEGO Universe - Kid Testers Trailer GERMAN|Gnarled Forest in a playtesting session in Germany Pre alpha early vendor Gnarled Forest.PNG|Gnarled Forest playtesting Gnarled Forest playtester 1.png|Gnarled Forest playtesting Gnarled Forest playtester 2.png|Gnarled Forest playtesting Photoshop 2018-04-03 14-55-41.png|Concept art by Richard Tran Photoshop 2018-04-03 14-56-07.png|Concept art by Richard Tran Photoshop 2018-04-03 14-56-37.png|Concept art by Richard Tran Photoshop 2018-04-03 15-06-49.png|Concept art by Richard Tran Davekang legouniverse31.jpg|Concept art by Dave Kang Lego-universe-screenshot-7.jpg|A new version of Gnarled Forest, still before the final zone 12642 4a8c81709bc28.jpg|Alternate rendering TV8 1024x512.png|An area that resembles the Ravine Early pirate camp.PNG|A prototype of the Pirate Camp 12642 4a8c815d9e9e1.jpg|A player being chased by pirates in a prototype of Gnarled Forest GF deep dive paintovers down ramp copy.jpg|Paintover by Jerry Meyer GF deep dive paintovers-split-copy.jpg|Paintover by Jerry Meyer GF deep dive paintovers split.jpg|Paintover by Jerry Meyer (with game client version visible) GF deep dive paintovers waterfall copy.jpg|Paintover by Jerry Meyer GF deep dive paintovers-darkling-pit-copy.jpg|Paintover by Jerry Meyer Gnarled-forest-deep-dive-pirate-tower.jpg|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Gnarled-forest-Pirate-shack-.jpg|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Structure-concept.jpg|Concept art by Kyle Wheeler Davekang legouniverse27.jpg|Concept art of the infected treasure chest effect in the lower left, by Dave Kang Gnarled forest concept art 2.jpg|Concept art by Jim Stigall Gnarled-Forest-Trench.jpg|Concept art Gf trenchpainting.jpg|Paintover by Richard Vargas LEGO Universe Kid Testing|A prototype of Gnarled Forest being playtested GF planet chunk copy.jpg|Concept art by Jerry Meyer Gnarled Forest.jpg|Map of Gnarled Forest at game launch Gnarled Forest Map.png|An updated map GF Map.png|The Gnarled Forest map as of the Ninjago Monastery update GF Sign.png|The hologram sign for Gnarled Forest in Nimbus Station UniverseMap I43.png|Gnarled Forest on the loading screen Gnarled Forest Launchpad.png|The Gnarled Forest launchpad in Nimbus Station GF Begining Launchpad.png|The launchpad to Nimbus Station at the beginning of Gnarled Forest NFP GF Launch Pad.png|The Nexus Force Plaque at the beginning of Gnarled Forest GF Begining Part.png|The beginning of Gnarled Forest, before the Ravine 939942 20100913 790screen008.jpg|Stromling Admirals and a Stromling Pirate entranced by a Siren Stunner at Brig Rock Gallery 28 24 215786.jpg|Sentinel members fighting a Stromling Ape Pirate Camp.png|The Pirate Camp VentureLeagueBarracuda.jpg|The Pirate Camp LEGOUniverse GnarledForest-1.jpg LEGOUniverse GnarledForest-2.jpg LEGOUniverse GnarledForest-3.jpg LEGOUniverse GnarledForest-4.jpg References Category:Worlds Category:Nimbus System